Former Florida Secretary of State Laurel Lee joins a growing Republican field of candidates in the redrawn Congressional District 15.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis decided on Rep. Cory Byrd as the newest Secretary of State, following the resignation announcement by the prior secretary earlier this week.

Attorneys for Secretary of State Laurel Lee, a defendant in the lawsuit filed by voting-rights groups and other plaintiffs, filed a notice of taking the case to the Tallahassee-based 1st District Court of Appeal.

Laurel Lee submitted her resignation to Gov. Ron DeSantis Thursday, according to the governor’s spokesperson.

With lawmakers heading into a special legislative session this month, Secretary of State Laurel Lee is asking a federal court to put on hold a case that argues judges should set Florida’s new congressional districts.

Civil and voter rights groups filed federal lawsuits against the state and election officials saying the new law impedes access to voting for minority and elderly voters.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Florida’s 29 Electoral College votes were cast for President Donald Trump during a ceremony in the Senate chamber on Monday. Secretary of State Laurel Lee conducted the vote Monday after three electors were named to replace three who couldn’t attend the ceremony. That included Senate President Wilton Simpson. Trump won Florida with 51.2% of the vote in last month’s election. The names of Florida’s electors are submitted to the governor by each political party.

Ramiro Saez, left, helps his son Lucas Saez, 22, fill out a voter registration form, Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2020, at the Miami-Dade County Elections Department in Doral, Fla. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis extended the state's voter registration deadline after heavy traffic crashed the state's online system and potentially prevented thousands of enrolling to cast ballots in next month's presidential election. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – A federal judge has denied a motion to extend voter registration in Florida even though a computer meltdown on the final day of registration might have prevented thousands of potential voters from taking part in November’s presidential election. “We’re disappointed that so many Floridians were disenfranchised because of the state’s failure to upkeep the online voter registration system,” Cabrera said. Florida’s online voter registration system serves the state’s 67 counties and became operational in October 2017.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – A federal judge has denied a motion to extend voter registration in Florida even though a computer meltdown on the final day of registration might have prevented thousands of potential voters from taking part in November’s presidential election. Secretary of State Laurel Lee reopened the registration for seven hours on Tuesday, after consulting with Gov. In the end, the case is not about Floridians missing registration deadlines, or a challenge to a state statute, Walker wrote. This court must consider the consequences of extending voter registration deadline. Yet, Florida has failed to figure out how to run an election properly -- a task simpler than rocket science.”

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – A federal judge held a hearing Thursday to consider further extending voter registration after Florida’s online system crashed in the hours leading up to Monday’s registration deadline. Several voter rights groups, however, filed a lawsuit to demand additional time for registration of Florida voters. The suit seeks a judge’s approval to giving potential voters two more days of registration beginning from the day the order would be signed. At the end of the two-hour hearing, the judge said he would take the issue under advisement and make a ruling later in the day. [MORE ON ELECTION 2020: President Trump says he won’t take part in virtual debate with Biden]

Secretary of State Laurel Lee issued a statement late Tuesday saying it does not appear that bad actors caused Monday's collapse of registration system. Monday's trouble with the voter registration website stoked concern, but there was relief that the cause was far less sinister. Its site would send Floridians to the state’s registration website. The statewide voter registration system, which serves Florida’s 67 counties, went online in October 2017. “The online voter registration site failed because it was designed to fail,” Holder said.

Ron DeSantis is extending the state’s voter registration deadline after heavy traffic crashed the state’s online system and potentially prevented thousands of enrolling to cast ballots in next month’s presidential election. Florida Secretary of State Laurel Lee says the online registration system “was accessed by an unprecedented 1.1 million requests per hour” during the last few hours of Monday. Sarah Dinkins, a Florida State University student, tried to help her younger sister register Monday night. From a broken unemployment website to a glitchy voter registration website— we need these systems to work for Floridians, not cause stress and delays. “Last night, we experienced an extremely high volume of traffic to the Online Voter Registration System,” Lee said.

Ron DeSantis extended the state’s voter registration deadline Tuesday after he said heavy traffic crashed the state’s online system and potentially prevented thousands of enrolling to cast ballots in next month’s presidential election. In addition to online registration, DeSantis ordered elections, motor vehicle and tax collectors offices to stay open until that hour for anyone who wanted to register in person. “No voter should be denied their right to vote during a global health pandemic because Florida did not have a functioning online voter registration system,” said Jorge Vasquez, power and democracy director at Advancement Project National Office, one of the suing groups. The volume of requests that overwhelmed the Florida registration site Monday was not consistent with denial-of-service attacks, which typically render websites unavailable with barrages of several hundred million requests per second. Sarah Dinkins, a Florida State University student, tried to help her younger sister register Monday night.

ORLANDO, Fla. – UPDATE: The website appeared to be back up again shortly before 10 p.m. Monday but users still reported glitches while trying to complete the registration process. Original story below:On the last day that Floridians have to register to vote for the November election, the state’s voter registration website has crashed. Due to high volume, for about 15 minutes, some users experienced delays while trying to register. Since then, more users have complained of issues but Lee’s social media has been quiet. [2020 VOTER GUIDE: Everything you need to know ahead of the presidential election]Among the responses are some asking that the deadline to register be extended.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Accusing Florida officials of ignoring “the harsh reality of the pandemic,” left-leaning groups are asking a federal judge to move forward with legal challenges to state vote-by-mail restrictions. In one of the lawsuits, Priorities USA and other plaintiffs want the judge to extend a deadline for mail-in ballots to be returned and require free postage for the ballots. They’re also challenging a provision in Florida law restricting paid workers from collecting mail-in ballots. Under current law, supervisors of elections must receive mail-in ballots by 7 p.m. on Election Day. that Mail-In Ballots will be anything less than substantially fraudulent.